Plethora of South Koreans and Japanese in Bundesliga pushing for World Cup

13 German Bundesliga players from two of Asiaâ€™s strongest nations, South Korea and Japan, will be pushing for selection at the 2014 World Cup.

13 German Bundesliga players from two of Asiaâ€™s strongest nations, South Korea and Japan, will be pushing for selection at the 2014 World Cup.

In the Taeguk Warriors camp, expect Bayer Leverkusen ace Son Heung-min to be a certain starter in Hong Myung-boâ€™s line-up while FSV Mainz new boy Koo Ja-cheol could feature in midfield while his die Nullfunfer teammate Park Joo-ho will be pushing for a starting berth in defence.

Also on Hongâ€™s radar will be FC Augsburg pair Ji Dong-won (who will join Borussia Dortmund at seasonâ€™s end) and Hong Jeong-ho making it five from the Bundesliga who will be hoping to compete in Group H against Belgium, Algeria and Russia.

For the Blue Samurai, FC Nurnberg midfielder Makoto Hasebe is returning from a knee injury but should be at prime fitness to captain Alberto Zaccheroniâ€™s men.

Potentially joining him in the middle of the park will be Der Club teammate Hiroshi Kiyotake , while Mainz ace Shinji Okazaki is highly likely to figure prominently.

Schalke full-back Atusto Uchida is almost certain to be selected while chances also go to Takashi Inui from Eintracht Frankfurt, Hertha Berlinâ€™s Hajime Hosogai, Hannoverâ€™s Hiroki Sakai and VfB Stuttgartâ€™s Gotoku Sakai making it a group of eight Japanese from Germanyâ€™s top flight who could make the trip to Brazil later this year to take on Colombia, Greece and Ivory Coast in Group C.